Race Review: Imola

Just like Bahrain, the Imola race was gripping and full of twist and turns (pun fully intended). The track in Italy did not fail to deliver! Some facts about the Imola track include its length being is 4.936 km (3.088 miles) with 20 turns, making the race 63 laps long. Crushingly this is the track where we lost Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger.

Qualifying was an interesting one... Tsunoda crashed out spectacularly in Q1, ripping up the back of the car and requiring a new gearbox and power unit element. The officials also really cracked down on the drivers for track limit violations with 30 lap times being deleted across the weekend for violations at turn 9. This was particularly gutting for Lando Norris who had put in an incredible lap to qualify P3 in Q3, however, this was then deleted.

The grid for Sunday was set up as follows:

Hamilton on poll, Perez P2, Verstappen P3, Leclerc P4, Gasly P5, Ricciardo P6, Norris P7, Bottas P8, Ocon P9, Stroll P10, Sainz P11, Russell P12, Vettel P13, Latifi P14, Alonso P15 Räikkönen P16, Giovinazzi P17, Schumacher P18, Mazepin P19 and Tsunoda in P20.

Once again, before the race even started there was drama. Rainy Imola was not holding back, sending Alpine's Alonso spinning. The rear-right break of Stroll's Aston Martin set alight as he pulled into his grid spot. The team frantically changed both his and his teammate Vettel's breaks, however, they did not manage to sort Vettel's in time, causing him to start the race from the pits. Leclerc also spun during the formation lap.

From the get-go, it was clear that Verstappen wasn't going to hang around in P3. He immediately pulled to the left of Hamilton, pushing him wide into the first chicane and driving straight into P1 and away from the Mercedes.

Latifi was another one to spin, however when he went to rejoin during Lap 2, the Williams made contact with the Haas of Mazepin and then hit the wall before Turn 14, resulting in him retiring from the race and a yellow flag. The spinning did not stop there; Perez hit a wet patch during the safety car, went off the track and then retook the positions he lost. As the driver was seen to be overtaking during a safety lap, he was hit with a 10-second stop-start penalty.

During the restart on Lap 7, the top three remained the same, but a fight for P6 ensued between Stroll, Sainz, Gasly and Norris, with the Brit winning the battle. Team orders then swapped Ricciardo and Norris around.

After a few pit stops, including a 4 second one from Hamilton, Verstappen was still in the lead. However, Lap 31 Turn 7 saw Hamilton lock up and spin into the gravel. He recovered the car and got back on the track, but the same can not be said of the other Mercedes. In an almighty crash between Bottas and Russell, both cars ended up in the barriers, sending debris absolutely everywhere. The red flag then waved as Russell marched over to the Mercedes for a heated argument.

The rolling restart saw Norris take P2 from Leclerc, shooting up the grid. Perez spun again, putting him down in P14, however, Hamilton was working his way back up. Verstappen pulled ahead, increasing the gap between him and Norris to 14 seconds.

It took until lap 50 for Hamilton to take P4 from Sainz and until Lap 55 to take P3 from Leclerc. During Lap 60, he took P2 from Norris, with the fellow Brit commenting on the McLaren team radio that 'he's too quick for me'. By the time it got to the final lap of the race, Verstappen was 22 seconds ahead of Hamilton and crossed the line to take the top spot on the podium.

The final results, after Räikkönen was given a 30 second post-race time penalty for spinning and then regaining his position before the post red flag rolling start, are as follows. Verstappen P1, Hamilton P2, Norris P3, Leclerc P4, Sainz P5, Ricciardo P6, Gasly P7, Stroll P8, Ocon P9, Alonso P10. Perez P11, Tsunoda P12, Räikkönen P13, Giovinazzi P14, Vettel P15, Schumacher P16, Mazepin P17, with Bottas Russell and Latifi not finishing.

Driver Of The Day: Norris

Having come back from the heartbreak of having his P3 worthy time being deleted at the end of Q3, Norris had a sensational race, working his was from P7 on the grid to P3 as the chequered flag waved. He was able to put the sadness of the previous day behind him, pull himself together and put on a masterclass for driver maturity, proving himself to everyone. The young Brit is beyond deserving of driver of the day.

Crash Of The Day: Russell and Bottas

With the accident at the Tamburello chicane being determined a racing incident by the stewards, the blame game was played by Russell and Bottas.

Bottas had the racing line, however, with significant rain before and during the start of the race, anything outside this was still damp. Russell, on newer tyres than Bottas as well as having the benefit of DRS, went for the overtake. When forced over the white line, his tyres lost traction and his car had less downforce due to his rear wing DRS flap being open. This led him to spin sideways, into the side of the Mercedes. Both cars hit the barriers, leaving debris in their wake.

Angry, Russell hopped out of the Williams and marched straight over to Bottas. After an exchange of words, including the Brit asking the Finn whether he was trying to kill them both, Bottas showed Russell the middle finger, which Russell retaliated to by bopping the top of Bottas' helmet.

Initially, Russell saw it as Bottas turning out slightly off the racing line and therefore forcing him out into the wet patch whereas Bottas felt like he was not to blame at all. At that speed, it would have been hard for either driver to fully determine what the other was doing. Whilst neither driver is completely to blame, it is widely thought that Russel took a risk and there was enough space for both of them on the track. Russell took to Instagram yesterday to take responsibility for his actions, saying:

"Yesterday wasn’t my proudest day. I knew it would be one of our best opportunities to score points this season and, when those points matter as much as they do to us right now, sometimes you take risks. It didn't pay off and I have to take responsibility for that. Having had time to reflect on what happened afterwards, I know I should have handled the whole situation better. Emotions can run high in the heat of the moment and yesterday mine got the better of me. I apologise to Valtteri, to my team and to anyone who felt let down by my actions. That’s not who I am and I expect more from myself, as I know others expect more from me. I’ve learned some tough lessons this weekend and will come out of this a better driver and a better person for the experience"

It is important to note that Russell is contracted to Mercedes on a long-term development contract; the British driver is more than likely to end up taking one of the seats in the team in the near future. After the incident, Toto Wolf told him to never lose sight of a 'global perspective' making comments about him being in the 'Renault Clio cup'. This must have factored into his decision to make an apology.

You can watch the crash here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjdwQDXxrfY

Overtake Of The Day: Verstappen

Having qualified in P3, Verstappen proved exactly why there is so much hype around him. The Dutchman managed to overtake Perez, darting around the left side of the Mercedes and pulling up to it side by side. The Red Bull forces the Mercedes wide going into the Tamburello chicane, gaining an advantage and pushing himself into the top spot. Rumour has it that the driver started in second gear, giving him an edge over teammate Perez and Hamilton. You can watch the magnificent race start here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te7StmYWGBs

Biggest Heartbreak: Norris

Norris whipped around his hot lap in Q3, completing it in 1m14.454s which put him P3 for the start of the race on Sunday. Heartbreakingly the time was deleted after it was determined that the Brit has gone out of the track limits at turn 9. Norris was gutted, apologising to his team over the radio, saying he "effed it all up" and posting a heart-rending picture on social media.

Best Radio Comment: Tsunoda

It's certainly a competition for the most racing swears between Yuki Tsunoda and Guenther Steiner... The 20 year old came out with the hilarious line "it's ******* paradise, traffic paradise. What is this one?" , expressing anger at the traffic on the track during qualifying. Monaco is going to be a fun one for Yuki, that's for sure...

Race Takeaways

As with Bahrain, this race has proved we are in for a fantastic season of Verstappen vs Hamilton action. Moreover, the midfield competition is going to be a fantastic one. Norris showed just what the McLaren's are capable of with Ferrari also coming back from the 2020 season fighting, finishing in P4 and 5.

Even the Williams were showing promising signs. Russell was in the points before the Bottas crash and both cars made it in Q2 with Russell missing out on Q3 by 0.1 of a second. This is an exciting prospect, particularly with the new team owners, as some great changes have clearly been made from last seasons' FW43.

Whilst there have only been two races, the Haas team is looking shaky. Despite both the drivers finishing this time, they were the last two cars (not including those who DNF). Hopefully, the two rookies can learn fast and the team can make some improvements to the car, otherwise their hopes of any points at all this season will be down the drain.

To end on a sweet note, Lewis Hamilton's activity on social media has been a heartwarming one, showing his class and sportsmanship. The seven time world champion commented on both Norris and Russell's post with encouraging and supportive words, bringing a smile to the faces of F1 fans everywhere.

Up next is a back to back racing weekend, starting in Portugal in two weeks, followed by the Spanish GP the week after!